Folding seat



N. LITCHH ELD.

FOLDING SEAT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 2, 1920.

Patented Oct 5, 1920. 2 $HEETS-SHEET I- F 1 g. l-

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FOLDING SEAT.

APPLICATION FILED JAN-2,1920.

0. 4 .d X 1H Z E M .W N mm mm H am. m 5 VM m P W 6 UNITED STATES PATENT}OFFICE.

NORMAN LITCHFIELD, OF PELI-IAM MANOR, NEW YORK, ASS-IGNOR TO AMERICANCAR AND FOUNDRY COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

FOLDING SEAT.

Application filed. January 2, 1920.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, NORMAN LITOHFIELD, residing at Pelham Manor, countyof Westchester, State of New York, and being a citizen of the UnitedStates, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in FoldingSeats, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and to use the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate the preferred form of the invention, thoughit is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exactdetails of construction shown and described, as it is obvious-thatvarious modifications thereof within the scope .of the claims will occurto persons skilled in the art.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a car illustrating my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l andlooking in the direction indicated by the arrows, showing seats unfoldedin position inside the doorway;

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view through one of the hinges and afragment of the seat showing relative positions of lower seatsupportingcross-rail and hinge when seats are unfolded;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational View of the doorway partition withcompanion seats in folded position on the seat-supporting crossrails,looking in the direction indicated by arrow 4 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. a lookingin the direction indicated by the arrow, showing the seats locked infolded position;

Fig. 6 is a side elevational view showing the seat locking mechanism;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 77 of Fig. 4 lookingin the direction indicated by the arrow, showing cam arrangement on thelower seat-supporting rail, and seat hinges; and

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing the seats folded and raisedto clear the lockon the upper seat-supporting rail.

One object of my invention is to provide a seat adapted to be foldedinto position within the doorway partitions commonly used'to divide widedoor openings in cars.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 5, 1920.

Serial No. 348,810.

Another object is to provide hinge mechanlsm adapted to permit theshifting of the seats bodily from their locked folded position to foldedreleased position, and to prevent shifting thereof when in folded orunfolded position.

Astill further object is to provide simple locking mechanism, efficientin operation, and economical to apply. Other objects and advantages willappear 1n connection with a detailed description of the drawings inwhich 9 represents the doorway partition framed out of stanchionsconnected by a plurality of seat-supporting cross-rails comprising upperor locking-rail 11 and lower or cam-rail 12, which rails are utilized inthis invention to support seats 13 l4 in folded or unfolded positions.

Hinges 15-16 of any suitable material are fitted to one end of the seatand shaped to embrace cam-rail 12 and cams 17 thereon for purposeshereinafter described. A handle 18 is secured to the opposite end of theseat and recessed as at 19 to provide a lip 20 for engagement with asupporting bracket 21 secured to locking-rail 11. In the folded positionof the seat the handle 18 engages bracket 21 through the medium of lip20 and hook-like projection 22' on the bracket. The handle is flanged asat 23 to provide additional gripping means for lifting the seat bodilyin its folded position to clear projection 22 on the supporting bracket21 as shown in Fig. 8. In this position of the seat the lip 20 on handle18 is clear of hook 22 and the seat released, permitting same to drop tounfolded position shown in Fig. 2, the handle 18 with adjacent margin ofthe seat sweeping along the path indicated by arrows in Fig. 8 andbroken line in Fig. 2. The same path is traversed in the process offolding the seat whereupon the folded seat may be dropped into lockedposition as indicated' in Fig. 5 in which hook 22 is shown in the pathof lip 20 of the seat handle, effectually locking the seat'until theseat is released by raising as above described. The handle is secured tothe seat in any suitable manner, an approved fastening being shown inthe drawings in the form of countersunk bolts and screws respectivelydesignated 24 and 25. As shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6. and 8, the seatadjacent the handle iscut out to provide a receiving pocket for the handof the operator and the locking hook 22 on the supporting bracket, asindicated in the drawings at 26.

The .hinges 15-16 are so shaped and proportioned that they will permitbodily shifting of the seat from locked position shown in Fig. 5 tofolded released position indicated in Fig. 8. The hinges embracecam-rail 12 and cam pieces 17 eccentrically arranged on said rail toserve as fillers for the hinges to snugly hold the seat against movementin one direction at that point when same is'in folded position, andprevent longitudinal shifting of the seat when in the unfolded positionindicated in Fig. 3. v

Flanking the door-opening are supports 27 positioned in such relation tothe cammed seat-supporting rail 12 of partition 9 that when the seat isprojected under the influence of cams 17 during the unfolding operationit. will rest with its free edge on the adjacent support. It will benoted that the cams 17 function to'force the seats supported thereonoutwardly from the rail 12 a distance at least as great as the depth ofvsaid cams thereby permitting supports 27 to be spaced a greaterdistance from the partition 9, and the door-opening correspondinglywidened. This operation is brought about by the engagement between camface 28 and adjacent end 29 of the seat and results from the riding ofthe seat at said end upon the cams during its unfolding movement tocomplete open position as shown in. Fig. 2. Ample clearance is providedin the hinges to permit the seat to be shifted upwardly to an extentsufficient to allow lip 20 of handle 18 to clear hook 22 of thesupporting bracket 21 on the locking-rail. The hinges are shaped toprovide this clearance between the inner face of wall 30 thereof and thebottom of cam-rail 12 as indicated at 81 in Fig. 5 showing the seats inlocked folded position and in condition to be raised to the releasedposition illustrated in Fig. 8. The hinge space between seat end 29 andwall 30 must be sufficient to accommodate the cam-rail 12 and providethe necessary clearance, but not greater than is sufficient to snuglyreceive the cam-rail over its major axis when seat is in the unfoldedposition shown in Fig. 3. This is designed so that the seat may beshifted to unlock when folded as shown in Fig. 8 and prevented fromshifting when in unfolded position. In its locked folded position, theseat is preferably supported from the bracket 21 on the locking-rail sothat the weight of the seat may be utilized to prevent chattering of thehandle 18 against said bracket.. To prevent this chattering tendency atthe hinge'end of the seat when in locked folded position, the distancebetween opposing walls 32 of the hinge is not greater than is necessaryto snugly receive the cam-rail 12 over its inaj or az'iis. The seats maybe prevented from creeping on the cam-rail 12 by any suitable stop 33 onsaid rail."

In so far as this invention is concerned the type of door used to closedooropening 341 may be of the folding variety as indicated at 35 inFigs. 1 and 2, or the door may be of the sliding type commonly employedin cars having wide door-openings. This for the reason that the movementof the door is-not controlled or influenced by seat movement but isoperated by mechanism forming no part of the seat arrangement. The seatsare so mounted that either one of the pair may be operated withoutdisturbing the seat opposite.

What I claim is:

1. The combination in a car provided with a door-opening, of a partitiondividing said opening and framed to provide stanchions and connectingseat-supporting cross rails spaced apart, and a seat section adapted tobe folded in position between said rails and stanehions.

2. The combination in a car provided with a door-opening, of a partitiondividing said opening and framed to provide stanehions and connectingseat-supporting cross-rails spaced apart, and seat sections adapted tobe supported in position by both of said rails.

3. The combination in a car provided with a door-opening, of a partitionflivicing said opening and framed to provide seat-supporting members, aseat-supporting member flanking said door-opening, and a seat sectionhinged to said partition and adapted to be supported at both ends uponsaid supporting members in both folded and unfolded positions.

4. The combination in'a car provided with a door-opening, of a partitiondividing said opening and framed to provide seat-sup portingcross-rails, seat locking means on one of said rails, and a seat mountedon said partition and shiftaol 2 into engagement with said lockingmeans.

5. The combination. in a car provided with a door-opening, of apartition dividing said opening and framed to provide upper and lowerseat-supporting cross-rails, seat locking means on the upper cross-rail,and a seat mounted on said partition and shiftable into engagement withsaid locking means.

6. The combination in a car provided with a door-opening, of a partitiondividing said opening and framed to provide upper and lowerseat-supporting cross-rails, seat looking means on the upper cross-rail,seat sections mounted on the lower cross-rail and shiftable intoengagement with said locking means.

7. The combination in a car provided with a door-opening, of a partitiondividing said opening and framed to provide upper and lowerseat-supporting cross-rails, seat look ing means on the uppercross-rail, hinge mechanism on the lower cross-rail adapted to support aseat section, and a seat section in folded position between said rails,said hinge mechanism being adapted to permit bodily shifting of the seatfor engagement with said locking means.

8. The combination in a car provided with a door-opening, of a partitiondividing said opening and framed to provide a plurality ofseat-supporting cross-rails, locking means on one of said rails, seatsections supported on said partition, and hinge mechanism on the otherof said rails adapted to permit bodily shifting of said seats into andout of engagement with said locking means.

9. The combination in a car provided with a door-opening, of a partitiondividing said opening and framed to provide seat-supporting cross-rails,seats foldable into position between said rails, seat locking means,hinge mechanism on one of said rails shaped to permit lengthwiseshifting of the seats into and out of engagement with said lockingmechanism, and cam elements forming part of the hinge mechanism adaptedto prevent swinging of the hinge end of the seats with respect to saidadjacent supporting-rail when seats are in folded position.

10. The combination in a car provided with a door-opening, of apartition framed to provide seat-supporting cross-rails, seats foldableinto position between said rails, seat locking means, hinge mechanism onone of said railsshaped to permit lengthwise shifting of the seats intoand out of engagement with said locking mechanism, and cam elementsadapted to prevent swinging of the hinge end of the seats with respectto said adjacent supporting-rail when seats are in folded position andlongitudinal shifting of said seats when in unfolded position.

11. The combination in a car provided with a door-opening, of apartition dividing said opening and framed to provide seatsupportingcross-rails, seats foldable into position between said rails, seatlocking means, hinge mechanism on one of said rails shaped to permitlengthwise shifting of the seats into and out of engagement with saidlocking mechanism, and cam elements forming part of the hinge mechanismadapted to prevent swinging of the hinge end of the seats with respectto said adjacent supporting-rail when seats are in folded position, saidcam elements being operable upon unfolding movement of said seats toforce same outwardly from the rail.

12. The combination in a car having a dooropening, of a partitiondividing said opening and framed to provide seat-supporting cross-rails,seats foldable into position between said rails and carrying latchmechanism, seat-locking means on one of said rails, and hinge mechanismon the other of said rails shaped to permit shifting of the latchmechanism into and out of engagement with said locking means.

13. The combination in a car having a door-opening, of a partitiondividing said opening and framed to provide seat-supporting cross-rails,seats foldable into position between said rails and carrying latchmechanism, seat-locking means on one of said rails, and hinge mechanismeccentrically mounted on the other of said rails adapted to permitshifting of the latch mechanism into and out of engagement with saidlocking means and prevent swinging of the hinge end of the seats withrespect to said adjacent supporting-rail when seats are in locked foldedposition.

14. The combination in a car provided with a door-opening, of apartition dividing said opening and framed to provide seatsupportingcross-rails, seats foldable into position between said rails andcarrying latch mechanism, seat-locking means on one of said rails, andhinge mechanism eccentrically mounted on the other of said rails adaptedto permit shifting of the latch mechanism into and out of engagementwith said locking means and prevent swinging of the hinge end of theseats with respect to said adjacent supporting-rail when seats are infolded position, said hinge mechanism being operable upon unfoldingmovement of said seats to force same outwardly from the rail.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

NORMAN LITGHFIELD.

Witnesses:

OSCAR HooHBERe, JOSEPHINE MITCHELL.

